No, I do not understand Bartleby, nor am I trying to. Although, I am not left without that same sense of curiosity about the scrivener’s past. The closest I can come to bring about the shape of the scrivener’s motive is that he has none. I see certain traits of Diogenes’ cynicism in the story, not only through the way of Bartleby but also the internal struggles of the narrator as he contemplates on the most ethical or moral course of action. I think it’s one of the story’s main theme: No matter how morally solid you think you are, at some point there is going to be some outlier that will test your limits and push you to a point of hypocrisy, the same way the narrator gave up on the idea of staying and taking care of Bartleby.
Diogenes’ philosophy, which includes rejection of societal conventions, indifference to the pursuit of material wealth, only caring for the bare necessities for existence, and a sort of distrust in humanity–or more specifically, society, to practice “correct” ethics. However, the idea behind Diogenes’ philosophy is to attain some sort of enlightenment by living a virtuous life, and this is where I see it parting with Bartleby. I don’t think Bartleby has an idea of salvation in mind, and to me he seems more unintentionally self-destructive, as if he is held back by something.
The best I can describe Bartleby is that he is like a ghost of someone who had died, and that someone perhaps had a significant other that they left behind, and so he chooses to stay still in the same place that he left his lover, watching helplessly yet is unwilling or unable to leave, letting everything around him evolve and change as time passes, while he is stuck in the moment.
The Name
Regarding the name ‘Bartleby’ – I looked into the origins of the name and found almost nothing – nothing but this: it is perhaps a variant of the name Bartholomew of Aramaic origin: “bar” means “son of’ and the rest means “the furrows” or “Talmai”. I’m not well-versed in biblical stories or figures so if anyone can derive some meaning from this detail, please share… if you’d prefer to, that is.
The way you’ve pulled philosophy into this is awesome! As a philosophy major, I was having similar thoughts. To be honest, I agree, I am not sure if Bartleby has any sort of motivation or hope of “salvation” or a better path towards a life full of meaning and virtue. His job is monotonous and soul-crushing, and seems to have taken all life from him (to your point, he does seem to be almost dwindling between life and death for much of the story). His act of staring at a wall seems to reflect his sheer apathy and attempt at alienation from the world around him. I suppose it allows him to mentally withdraw from his surroundings, but in a way, it also feels like he is defeated and accepting of the way the walls are closing in on him, figuratively speaking.